Ryan Laumann testifies during Christopher Lynn Johnson's murder trial

A Fairfield man was the only eyewitness to the gunfight along Schriver Road in Freedom Township where Wildlife Conservation Officer David L. Grove was shot and killed by Christopher Lynn Johnson.

Ryan Laumann, now 21, testified in Adams County court Wednesday that he was the passenger riding with Johnson, 29, of Carroll Valley when Grove pulled them over for poaching deer around 10:30 p.m. Nov. 11, 2010.

The men had been drinking beer, and Laumann said he smelled a popular liquor called 99 Bananas on Johnson’s breath before they went bow hunting at a hunting camp on Orrtanna Road owned by Johnson’s family that afternoon. Laumann said he has seen Johnson drink on numerous occasions, and did not feel he was impaired that night.

Johnson is on trial for the 31-year-old officer’s murder, and faces the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder, meaning he formed a full intent to kill Grove.

The defense is not disputing the fact that Johnson shot and killed Grove. Johnson’s attorneys say he panicked when Grove pulled them over because he was a convicted felon in illegal possession of a firearm. He claims he had no intention of killing Grove.

The prosecution argued Johnson definitely intended to kill Grove because he fired 15 shots from a .45-caliber handgun at the officer, and stopped to reload his weapon in the middle of a frenzied gunfight.

Bow hunting

District Attorney Shawn Wagner asked Laumann a series of questions about his friendship with Johnson, how many times he had seen Johnson shoot at targets and how often the two would hang out together. Laumann said he considered Johnson an average shooter, one you could tell didn’t practice every day.

Laumann was then asked to recount the afternoon and evening of Nov. 11, 2010. Laumann said Johnson was waiting in his driveway when he returned from work just before 4:30 p.m. Laumann changed into his hunting clothes, and grabbed his compound bow and some other equipment before the two headed to the hunting camp in Johnson’s blue Chevrolet pickup truck.

The two sat in a tree stand at the camp and waited for some deer to shoot arrows at. Laumann said they both drank beer, but said they each only had a few. They didn’t see any deer, so the two left the tree stand just before dark.

Laumann said Johnson wanted to go spotlighting, and he went with him even though he said he really didn’t want to because he had to be up early for work.

The two then went to Ross Orchard to look for deer, and spotted a doe some time later. Laumann said Johnson held the spotlight out the driver’s side window, and Laumann leaned out the passenger’s side window with his compound bow. He hit the doe, it stumbled across the road and laid down in a grassy area.

Laumann then said they wanted to wait and make sure the doe had died before picking it up. A short time later they spotted a buck along Red Rock Road.

“Chris said he wanted that deer, so he shined the light and I shot at the deer once (with the rifle), and missed it. Chris then grabbed the rifle, and shot two times. It looked like the deer fell.”

Shots fired

As soon as they shot the buck, Laumann said Johnson turned onto Schriver Road, where they immediately saw headlights behind them, and then red and blue emergency lights.

“I told Chris I think that’s a DNR (game officer) behind us. I told him we were going to be in a lot of trouble,” Laumann recalled. “He told me, ‘Don’t worry. I got you. But I’m not going back to jail.’”

Laumann said he did not perceive Johnson’s statement as a threat of any kind to the officer.

Grove spoke to the men via loud speaker, and told Johnson to turn the truck off and drop his keys out the window. Johnson was then ordered to open the door from the outside slowly, exit the vehicle and put his hands on the truck. Laumann said Johnson complied with all orders.

Grove asked if there were weapons in the vehicle, and if Johnson had a passenger. Laumann was then ordered to get out of the truck in the same manner, and place his hands on the truck. While the two were standing there, Laumann said Johnson whispered to him that he had a .45 on his waist.

“I told him there was nothing he could do with it, and that they were going to take it from him,” he added.

Johnson was ordered to place his hands on top of his head, and walk backwards towards Grove.

Laumann remained with his hands on the truck and for the most part, was staring at the hood of the truck. He said he heard keys jingling and the snap of a handcuff.

“At that point, Chris was saying, ‘What did I do? Why are you arresting me?’” Laumann said. “Then I heard feet scuffling and the officer yelling, ‘Get on the ground! Get on the ground, now!’”

Johnson said, “Alright, alright,” and Laumann then heard gunshots go off. He slid to the ground, and crawled underneath Johnson’s truck with his hands covering his face.

Laumann said he was screaming, “Is there anywhere safe? Is there anywhere safe?”

He said he had no idea what was going on, and was in shock. At one point he said he peeked out from the tire, and saw Johnson fire three shots in the direction of Grove’s vehicle.

When the shooting stopped, Laumann crawled out from under the truck, and saw someone lying in the road. He said it was Johnson, who then got up and said he was hit. Johnson scrambled to find his keys, told Laumann to get in the truck and peeled off down the road. Laumann said he was terrified, and still had no idea what had happened. He told Johnson he wanted out of the truck, and Johnson stopped a few minutes later. Laumann got out of the truck, grabbed his things, and jumped off a bridge onto U.S. 15. His girlfriend picked him up a short time later.

Validity questioned

Wagner asked Laumann why he did not tell police the truth when he was first questioned about the incident. Laumann first told police Johnson had dropped him off at his girlfriend’s home at 6:30 that evening. He also did not tell police about the shooting at first. Laumann said he wasn’t completely honest out of fear, and because he still hadn’t processed what had happened. He only recently told police he was involved in the deer poaching.

Defense attorney William Miehle questioned the validity of Laumann’s statements since he had not been truthful in the past. Laumann assured he was telling the truth during his testimony, even though previous statements revealed different accounts of the shooting.

Miehle also asked Laumann if the state has offered to be more lenient with the criminal charges Laumann faces for the game violations — up to six months in prison and a $3,000 fine for each deer. Laumann said he has not been promised any deal concerning his charges.

Testimony in the case is continuing today. Two weeks have been set aside for the trial, which opened Monday.

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